Daily Archives: July 1, 2024
Minister to assess damage after 5 fishing boats destroyed by fire in Quebec’s Magdalen Islands
Federal fisheries minister Diane Lebouthillier was scheduled to visit the Magdalen Islands’ Grande-Entrée wharf Monday after five fishing boats were destroyed by a fire. The fire broke out one of the vessels Sunday morning and then spread to four others in the harbour. All but one of the boats sank, spilling an estimated 18 and 220 litres of hydrocarbons into the waters, according to the Canadian Coast Guard. Diane Lebouthillier, who is the MP for the area and is Canada’s Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard, is set to arrive in the Port of Grande-Entrée Monday afternoon to assess the damage. She will be accompanied by Mayor Antonin Valiquette, who is also president of the Communauté maritime des Îles-de-la-Madeleine, and Cédric Arseneau, area director for the Magdalen Islands at Fisheries and Oceans Canada. video, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 16:47
P.E.I. student who’s worked on lobster boats seeking patent for new lifejacket
Ben Collings-MacKay is in fourth year at St. Francis Xavier University in Nova Scotia but hails from Montague in eastern P.E.I.. He has been spending most of his summers out on the Gulf of St. Lawrence, fishing lobster. But he is also the founder of CM Marine Safety Equipment, which in mid-June was awarded top prize for northern Nova Scotia in the annual Spark Nova Scotia competition meant “to activate early-stage innovation in rural parts of Nova Scotia.” Collings-MacKay knows first-hand the challenges fishermen face having to wear both an approved lifejacket or personal flotation device and the kind of protective gear that can keep them warm and dry as they handle heavy traps and nets in a physically demanding job. Video, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 13:24
In a proud and troubled UK town, voters wonder whether their election choice will make a difference
“At the last election, I voted Conservative because Johnson promised our waters back, and lied through his teeth,” said Stan Rennie, a fisherman who has caught lobster off Hartlepool for five decades but says he can scarcely scrape a living anymore. “Because we’re the northeast, I don’t think the government even knows we exist,” he said. “We’re the forgotten land.” A proud, rugged town jutting into the North Sea 250 miles (400 kilometers) north of London, Hartlepool is scarred by industrial decline. The shipyards and steelworks that once employed thousands are long gone. The fishing fleet has been shrinking for years. In a 2016 referendum, Hartlepool voted heavily to leave the European Union, persuaded by Johnson and other Brexit-backers that quitting the bloc would let the U.K. control immigration and free up billions in cash for struggling communities. photos, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 10:56
Seiner goes aground in Anita Bay; all five crew rescued
Coast Guard Sector Southeast got a call Tuesday, shortly before 10 a.m., that the Petersburg-based seiner the F/V Pamela Rae was taking on water in Anita Bay, located on Etolin Island near Wrangell. The call came from the F/V Confidence, relaying a call from their sister fishing vessel F/V Barbara which was on the scene and providing Samaritan support, said U.S. Coast Guard spokesperson Lt. Matt Naylor. The Pamela Rae was taking on water fast and was rolling over. It had five people on board. All of them safely made it off the vessel. A Wrangell Ranger District Forest Service vessel heard the radio and headed to the area right away. more, >> CLICK TO READ<< 09:50
‘It hasn’t been crab salad weather’ – fisherman
Crabs from Cromer, in Norfolk, have long featured on the menus at high-end restaurants, and tourists head to the town to sample the local delicacy. But one specialist supplier – Jonas Seafoods – has had to reduce the amount of crab it takes in, blaming a double whammy of the bad weather combined with the rise in the cost of living. “It hasn’t been crab salad weather,” said John Davies, a fisherman and fishmonger. “The economy is struggling, we are luxury food item, and the cost of living has a knock-on effect, so prices are going up everywhere,” he added. “There’s just not been the volume of people about.” more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 06:49
